Envelop.



c. 0; WALLACE.

ENVBLOP.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 13, 1913. 1, 1 26,596. Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

' 'unrruu sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

I CURTIS C. WALLACE, 0F ESTELLINE, TEXAS.

ENvnLoze.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led December 13, 1913. Serial No. 806.571.

a citizen of the United States,l residing at Estelline, in the county of Hall and State of Texas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Envelops, of which the following is a specification.

The-invention relates to envelops, and has for an object to provide an envelop which.

when once sealed, cannot be opened or' fraudulently7 tampered with will be apparent to the party for whom the mail orcontents of the envelop is intended.

In the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, constituting a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views, and in which:

Figure l is a rear elevation of the envelop, showing the same open and before sealing; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the envelop after the same is sealed; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the envelop after the same is sealed; Fig. eis a perspective view of the member of the sealing flap, removed from i the said Hap; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the button.

Referring more particularly to the views, I disclose an envelop 10 consisting particularly of a body 11 adapted to receive suitable mail matter and having a sealing flap 12, which, folded upon the body 11, is adapted for the purpose of closing the same. In order to insure the proper sealing of the flap 12 to the body 11 I employ a lock member 13 and a seal member 14, the lock member 13 being adapted to be applied tothe body 11 of the envelop and the seal member 111 being adapted to be .applied to the flap 12 whereby, when the flap 12- is arranged in closed position, the seal member, engaging flap 12 relatively to the body of the envelop so that the envelop cannot be opened with-l out partially mutilating the same. To this end I form the lock member 13 of a backV plate 15 provided with a simple opening L16 and carrying a plurality of spaced spring-like members 17 which extend across the opening 16. The back plate 15 is ap plied. to the inside ofthe body 11 and is secured thereto by glueso that the opening 16 will register with an eyelet 18 carried by a front plate 19 and projecting through an opening 2O in the body 11, said opening 20 being in registration `with the opening 16,

The seal 141 consists, more particularly, of ya button 21 carrying a plurality spaced plates 22 andbetweenwhich is interposed the flap 12, the said button 21 being pressed or swaged so that it willbe securelyheld upon the flap by the plates 22 to which it is rigidly connected. The button includes an annular groove 23 and after the mail matter has been placed in the envelop 10, the"fiap 12 is folded into closed position and the button 21 is adapted to be pressed through the eye 18 and into engagement with the springlike members 17, the said spring-like members being adapted to be snappedinto the annular groove 23 of the button, thus rigidly securing the seal 14" to the lock member 13 andv holding the sealing iap 12 in closed position. It -will be apparent that with this construction the sealing flap cannotv be opened for the purpose of removing the mail matter from the envelop, without defacing or mutilating either the body of the envelop or the sealing flap, and thus it will be possible for persons receiving the mail matter to instantly tell whether the same has been tampered with or not.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the device described is of a simple and durable construction, consists of few parts and is particularly adaptable for use on envelops made of heavy paper.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In an envelop, the combination with an envelop body having a sealing flap, of a back plate arranged inside of the body and secured thereto. said back plate having an opening, a front plate on the exterior of the body and provided with an opening in registration with the opening in the back plate,

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

sol

a sealing member on the sealing Hap and adapted to project through the opening in' the front plate and exten into and through the o ening n the back plate when the sealmg member, and a spring-like member lying Within the plane of the backl lplate and adapted to engage the head of the sealing A ap is closed, a head on the sealingmember to secure the `sealing member against removal from the back plate.

In testimon whereof. I aix my signature kin presence o two wtnesses.-

Y CURTIS C. WALLACE.

Witnesses:

v EMILE GRUNDY, OSCAR POWER. 

